Cichlids of the Americas - The Surinamensoids

This time, we look at the real Geophagus.

Wayne Leibel
I'm going to shift gears here and address the second large assemblage of eartheaters, the "surinamensoid" complex now
Geophagus, strictly speaking. Bloch, in 1791, described Sparus surinamensis from a single juvenile specimen collected by
him in Surinam. This fish was later moved to the genus Geophagus. Heckel (1840) described two new species collected by
Natterer: Geophagus altifrons from the Rio Negro and Geophagus megasema from the Rio Guapore (Matto Grosso).
Guenther (1862) placed both G. altifrons and G. megasema in synonymy with G. surinamensis. A fourth species, Chromys
proxima (Castelnau 1855), was also synonymized with G. surinamensis by Steindachner (1875).
And so the nomenclatural situation stood until the re-evaluation of the genus Geophagus by Gosse in 1975. Gosse reported
statistically significant differences between geographic "races" of G. surinamensis (e.g., Guyanan versus Amazonian, etc.),
but, as a "lumper," he refused to split these into distinct species preferring, as did his predecessors, to consider all of them
as simply variants of Geophagus surinamensis.
Like science, like hobby. Mostcichlid fishhobbyists can recognize Geophagus surinamensis in the same way that they can
easily identify Satanoperca "jurupari." The surinamensoids are typically elongate, generic eartheaters in shape. However,
the mouth is not quite as underslung as in the juruparoids.
Their distinctive coloration includes a dark mid-lateral blotch and characteristic alternating blue/green and red iridescent
longitudinal stripes. The dorsal, anal, caudal and even the ventral fins are often spotted or streaked in red, white and blue. If
you've ever kept them or really looked at various shipments at your dealer, you will have noted subtle variations on the
colorational theme of "surinamensis." Some have striped tails, others are spotted, some have additional black spots on their
gill plates, some have black throats, the size of the mid-lateral blotch varies, the height and length of the body is variable,
etc.
If you believe Gosse (and others before him), who classified Geophagus surinamensis as a single, widely distributed
species found throughout South America, then you will have no trouble integrating these observations under the simple
explanation of "geographic variation." However, this has proven to be the wrong interpretation.
Those of us interested in spawning the surinamensoids were schooled by the texts stating that this fish is a
delayedmouthbrooder like the juruparoids (Axelrod 1978, for example). In fact, however, some of them are and some of
them aren't! Imagine my surprise when the flag-tailed variety of "surinamensis" I was keeping spawned like a red hump!
That is, the female picked up her eggs immediately.
However, my experience with the Guyanan black-throat form proved this fish had read the books: they guarded their egg
clutch for 48 hours before uptaking them for further oral incubation. I shared these experiences and others in an article
published in Buntbarsche Bulletin in 1985. At the same time, our German colleagues were reporting similar observations
(Werner 1984) and were reaching similar conclusions. That is, we were dealing with a suite of different and distinct species,
not simply geographic variants of the same species.
But what names to put to them? The Germans applied the noncommittal names "ovophilic" and "larvaphilic" to distinguish
between those that picked up the eggs immediately (advanced mouthbrooders) and those that guarded the eggs and
chewed the fry out of their shells (delayed mouthbrooders).
I believed that some of the earlier names (e.g., megasema, altifrons, proximus, etc.) could be assigned on the basis of
coloration and geographic origin, so I suggested that the Guyanan black-throat form was G. surinamensis, and that the
"spot-tail" and "flag-tail" forms were respectively G. altifrons and G. megasema. These designations have been
subsequently followed in the literature (Stawikowski and Werner 1988).
Kullander (1986) decided that the surinamensoid from Peru was Geophagus proximus, and, more recently, Kullander and
Nijssen (1989) suggested that the aquarium surinamensoid from Guyana (black-throat) is not G. surinamensis but rather the
newly described G. brachybranchus. Apparently the real G. surinamensis is restricted in its distribution to Surinam itself, an
area that is not a focus for commercial fishcollecting. Geophagus brachybranchus joins G. harreri Gosse (1976) and G.
camopiensis Pellegrin (1903), two previously described surinamensoid-like eartheaters from the Guyanas,
along with G. brokopondo, yet another new species from a very limited area described by Kullander and Nijssen (1989).
In terms of the hobby, G. brachybranchus (black-throat Guyanan), G. megasema (flag-tail Amazonian), and G. proximus
(huge-spot Peruvian) are the usual forms available, all sold under the name Geophagus surinamensis (and sometimes the
older, invalid name "G. thayeri"). Both G. harreri and G. camopiensis are in Europe, returned there by enthusiasts who
collected them from Surinam and French Guiana, but don't look for them in the American hobby anytime soon (pictures in
Stawikowski and Werner 1988).
There are several undescribed species that appear infrequently. There is a very elongate (and very belligerent) undescribed
form from Venezuela dubbed "Wangenstrich Erdfresser" (cheek-striped eartheater) for the vertical "bandit" stripe extending
from the eye down the gill covers. There are also several surinamensoids being exported from the Rio Tocantins/Rio Xingu
area, now that this area has been opened primarily for the fantastic loricariid (suckermouth) catfish it has provided. One of
these, an otherwise drab fish notable for a mid-lateral splotch ringed by iridescent scales (unique among surinamensoids)
has recently been named G. argyrostictus by Kullander (1991).
References
Axelrod, H. 1978. The eartheaters, Geophagus jurupari and Geophagus surinamensis. In: Breeding Aquarium Fishes, Vol.
5, Pp. 102-126. TFH Pub., Neptune, New Jersey.
Axelrod, H. 1980. Exotic Tropical Fishes. TFH Pub., Neptune, New Jersey.
Brind, W. 1943. A new species of Geophagus, Geophagus magdalena. Brind, "The Magdalena Mouthbrooder." All Pets
Mag. 14(9).
Gosse, J.-P. 1975. Revision du genre Geophagus (Pisces: Cichlidae). Monograph. Mem. Acad. Roy. Sci. Outre mer
(Bruxelles) 19(3):1-172.
Gosse, J.-P. and S. O. Kullander. 1981. The zoological name of the red-hump Geophagus. Buntbarsche Bulletin 83:12-17.
Kiefel, V. H. 1992. Der "Trnenstrich Erdfresser" aus dem Rio Xingu: Geophagus argyrostictus. DATZ 45:152-154.
Kullander, S. O. 1986. Cichlid fishes of the Amazon river drainage of Peru. Monograph. Swed. Mus. Nat. Hist., Stockholm,
Sweden.
Kullander, S. O. 1991. Geophagus argyrostictus, a new species of cichlid fish from the Rio Xingu, Brazil. Cybium
15(2):129-138.
Kullander, S. O. and H. Nijssen. 1989. The Cichlids of Surinam, Teleostei: Labroidei. Monograph. E.J. Brill, Leiden, Holland.
Leibel, W. S. 1985. Behavioral evidence for the polytypic nature of Geophagus surinamensis (Bloch 1791). Buntbarsche
Bulletin 106:15-23.
Leibel, W. S. 1986. Pellegrin's humped eartheater: introducing the true Geophagus pellegrini. Buntbarsche Bulletin
113:2-15.
Leibel, W. S. 1989. Geophagus pellegrini Regan 1912. ACA Cichlid Index 9(9):1-2.
Loiselle, P. V. 1974. The identity of the Redhump Geophagus. Buntbarsche Bulletin 40:9-22.
Palicka, J. 1992. The care of Geophagus surinamensis. Tropical Fish Hobbyist 40(9):8-12.
Richter, H. J. 1979. The red hump Geophagus. Tropical Fish Hobbyist 25(3):4-14.
Sprenger, K. 1971. The red-humped Geophagus. Buntbarsche Bulletin 26:24-25.
Stawikowski, R. 1990. Oft-brotende Geophagus! DATZ 43(9):519-520.
Stawikowski, R. and U. Werner. 1988. Die Buntbarsche der Neuen Welt: Sudamerika. Reimar Hobbing Verlag, West
Germany.
Werner, U. 1984. DCG-Informationen 15(2).
Werner, U. 1992. Der "gelbe Wangenstrich Erdfresser" ist kein Maulbroter! DATZ 45(1):7-8.
I mention these latter two species because both have proven (Stawikowski 1990, Werner 1992, Kiefel 1992) to be
non-mouthbrooding substrate spawners! So much for our understanding of the evolution of mouthbrooding in the
geophagine cichlid fish. A nice pat story would suggest that mouthbrooding arose only once in the eartheater lineage (with
the substrate-spawning "G." brasiliensis and many of the Gymnogeophagus species, primitive relics of the ancestral
eartheater), evolved to delayed mouthbrooding, of which Satanoperca and Geophagus and a very few of the
Gymnogeophagus are contemporary examples, and ultimately evolved toward immediate mouthbrooding, a behavior
exhibited only in the red hump clan in the South American cichlidae.
Our captive spawning observations, primarily of the surinamensoids in which substrate-spawning as well as delayed and
immediate mouthbrooding behaviors are all manifest, argue for a multiple origin for mouthbrooding in this otherwise
coherent group of fishes (shared gill lobe, etc.). I had to laugh at the recent article in TFH magazine (Palicka 1992) that
describes Geophagus surinamensis as a delayed mouthbrooder but which further suggests that G. surinamensis, G.
altifrons, G. megasema and G. proxima are, in fact, the same fish. Talk about outdated material!
Experience has proven otherwise. Here is one place where aquarists have really helped science in the cause of trying to
unravel the workings of evolution. We really don't have the full answer regarding the evolution of mouthbrooding in these
fish, but we now know where to look.
Maintaining and Breeding the Surinamensoids
My experience with the surinamensoids has been limited to date, with the more commonly available G. brachybranchus, G.
megasema and G. proximus. I haven't as yet laid my hands on the rare substrate spawners but some generalizations
suggest themselves. I would judge the surinamensoids to be of intermediate difficulty, with the red hump and the juruparoids
serving as "easy" and "difficult" end points.
Like the Satanoperca species, these are large fish easily reaching 10-plus inches in captivity. They will, however, spawn at 4
to 6 inches. They are also sexually isomorphic the only "recognizable" difference between male and female is the slightly
heavier girth of the female when ripe. Again, this is another fish where when the tubes come down and I can actually sex
them, I'm surprised at least half the time.
Both sexes of some species (e.g., G. megasema, G. altifrons) are notable for the dramatic streamers extending from the
upper and lower tips of the caudal fin, as well as the dorsal, anal and ventral fins. I have seen best-in-show specimens,
reared in isolation, with streamers easily as long as the fish itself (i.e., 9-inch filaments on a 9-inch fish!). These are excellent
show fish. They are, however, somewhat belligerent and not the best ofcommunityaquarium fish. Choose their tankmates
accordingly!
Maintenance of these fish is not particularly demanding. If you're set up for Satanoperca as per our last installment, your fish
will prosper. If not...well, there's some room for slack.
They should be kept warm (78 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit [26 to 30 degrees Celsius]) and the water should be clean, but the
surinamensoids don't seem nearly as susceptible to lapses in water-quality maintenance. That is not to say you shouldn't
care, just that less-than-perfect water quality will not affect them nearly as much as it will the Satanoperca.
Nothing special is needed to induce spawning. I find the rest of Palicka's (1992) suggestions regarding care right on the
money. Good feeding with a variety of prepared and frozen fish foods, coupled with a few water changes, and presto! In the
case of the delayed mouthbrooders (e.g., G. brachybranchus), a pair bond is formed and both parents participate in egg
guarding and brood care, as is apparently true for the substrate spawners (Stawikowski 1990).
The immediate mouthbrooders (e.g., G. megasema, G. proximus, G. altifrons) show no such fidelity, and it is the female who
picks up the eggs and is responsible for brood care. Because these fish will spawn readily in a group situation, it may be
necessary to isolate the pair by either dividing theaquarium or removing the other fish, or, in the case of immediate
mouthbrooders, simply removing the egg-carrying female to another broodingaquarium as per the red humps.
In all cases, the fry are large enough to eat newly hatchedbrine shrimp immediately, and grow quickly and steadily
to a size of 2 inches or more in the first year. For an intermediate challenge, I recommend this group of attractive
eartheaters. Hopefully, some of the rarer forms (e.g., G. harreri, G. camopiensis) including the substrate-spawning G.
argyrostictus will be available in the American hobby soon.
Conclusion
In this and the previous installments of Goin' South we have met two groups of eartheaters, the red humps and the
surinamensoids. Both are of interest as aquarium subjects and for the peculiarity of their reproductive behaviors relative to
other South American cichlid fish. The fact that substrate spawning, as well as delayed and immediate mouthbrooding,
occur within the surinamensoid lineage suggests that these fish are still experimenting on an evolutionary scale with
alternate modes of reproductive behaviors, unlike either the satanopercoids (delayed mouthbrooding) or the red humps
(immediate mouthbrooding).
In the next installment of this examination of South American eartheaters, we will meet the "naked" eartheaters, members of
the genus Gymnogeophagus, and the remaining orphan of the Kullander splitting of Geophagus: "G." brasiliensis. Apart
from their attractiveness as a freshwateraquarium fish, this group as with the surinamensoids seems a behavioral
"experiment in progress." Next time, the naked eartheaters.